Ex-Ford Engineer Sent To Prison In Espionage Case

DETROIT (AP) – An engineer who stole trade secrets from Ford Motor Co. has been sentenced to almost six years in prison.

Xiang Dong Yu is also known as Mike Yu. He admits copying thousands of documents with details on engine transmission systems and electrical power supply before leaving to work for a Chinese competitor in 2008.

Yu was sentenced Tuesday to 70 months in prison and will be deported to China after his release. He worked at Ford for 10 years and quit the company by sending an e-mail from China in January 2007.

A year earlier, Ford received a tip from Yu’s ex-girlfriend that he’d provided Ford documents to potential employers. The company has described the information as the “DNA” found in all Ford vehicles.

This would not happen if Michigan industry hired native Michigan and American engineers. A chance is taken when hiring the H-1B engineer. More information is availabe at the American Engineering Association website , http://www.aea.org.

What a dispicable thing to do!!!. We takethese people in, give many of them an education and a decent job, and what do they do? They turn on us, use us for their own selfish ends, and betray us. It’s too bad that he only got 6 years. I think the saddest part of this whloe slimy mess is that he’ll probably be considered a hero when he gets back to China. Shame! Shame!

I worked for 35 years for a major auto co. with many engineers from many different countries. They were vital team members with significant contributions to our goals and objectives. Judging any “people” based on the actions of one individual or even a few individuals, seems unreasonable.